1. 1 Integrating Adobe Creative Suite to Maximize E-Learning Development ASTD TechKnowledge 2009 Thomas A. Toth

2. Integrating Adobe Creative Suite to Maximize E-Learning Development  Rules of Engagement  What kinds of software do you need?  What is in the Adobe Creative Suite 4 Web Premium?  Should you buy it?

3. Review of the Rules of Engagement  Open forum – want this to be interactive  Interrupt at any time – please raise your hand and ask questions at any time during the presentation or, just shout it out!  I’ll be asking lots of questions – please respond  I know a lot, but I don’t know everything. I’ll be honest if I don’t know, I’ll hypothesize when appropriate, but I’ll never guess!

4. What kinds of software do you need?  Graphic design software  Photo editing software  Audio recording software  Video editing software  Screen capture software  Animation creation software  HTML/XHTML writing software  3D creation software

5. Do you need to learn ALL this software?

6. Web Development Software  Individual Software –Create your own “suite” of best of breed tools –May be less expensive – you buy only what you need –May be easier to learn – only learn what you need to know  Web Development Suites –Integrated set of tools –Similar look and feel –Lots of development options

7. Graphic and Photo Design Software  Essential Role –Create and edit graphic elements Buttons Navigation elements Interface design Pictures and graphic art –Create and edit photos From digital camera From web sites –Optimize photos and graphics Bring them down to web safe format Import and export all types of graphics

8. Audio Recording Software  Essential Role –Create and edit audio elements Voice overs Audio loops Edit music files –Optimize audio files Bring them down in quality to web safe format Import and export all types of graphics –.wav to.mp3 –.aiff

9. Video Editing Software  Essential Role –Create and edit video elements Import video from the web Import video from a digital camera –Optimize video files Bring them down in quality to web safe format Import and export to all different formats –.mov –.mpg –.avi –.mp4

10. Video Editing Software Need Good Hardware!  Only as good as the video equipment you purchase! –HD or regular format? –DVD or Digital tape? –Hand held camera or large professional recorder –Lighting?  Only as good as the videographer you hire! –Video work is an art form –Can look “cheesy” if you do it yourself –Hire good actors –Write a script

11. Screen Capture Software  Essential Role –Capture still screen shots or recorded interactive mouse movements Great for software training/demos Some software allows for complete immersion in the recording

12. Animation Software  Essential Role –Create moving images or complete graphical interfaces Becomes the entire platform for eLearning Used to create spot animation/subtle elements –Usually exports to a.swf file Small Web File –Has an internal programming language to allow for interactivity ActionScript Scripting Editors

13. HTML/XHTML Writing Software  Essential Role –Write the “engine” code for your eLearning program –If its on the web, it needs to use HTML/XHTML –Easy User Interface WYSIWYG Hand Code Snippets Code coloring and tag assistance

14. The Adobe Creative Suite CS4

15. Web Premium vs eLearning Suite Web Premium Dreamweaver Flash Photoshop Illustrator Fireworks Acrobat Pro Contribute Soundbooth $1699 eLearning Suite Captivate (no Mac) Flash Dreamweaver Photoshop Acrobat Pro Presenter (no Mac) Soundbooth $1799

16. Dreamweaver CS4  Essential Role –HTML/XHTML Writing WYSIWYG as well as code view All the code that the browser uses to display content is done here “Big Pot” software - everything created everywhere else comes into Has lots of sample code, code hinting and Spry coding samples (AJAX)

17. Flash CS4  Essential Role –Animation creation –Interface creation –Powerful multimedia elements - video and audio editing and manipulation –Powerful coding language – ActionScript –Great for interactions, gaming and graphic intensive experiences

18. Photoshop CS4  Essential Role –Graphics creation –Photo editing and manipulation –3D Object creation and painting –Video and multimedia savvy - you can create elements to use in your video projects –Great for both print and online elements

19. Illustrator CS4  Essential Role –Clip art and illustration creation - great for logos –All vector graphic creation –Strong drawing tools

20. Fireworks CS4  Essential Role –Graphics creation –Web site prototype creation –Creates code and graphics simultaneously - buttons, fly-out menus and disjointed roll-overs are easy to create –Strong optimization tools –Photoshop’s “Little Buddy”

21. Acrobat 9 Pro  Essential Role –Create PDF files from multiple image and document sources –Security features to protect your documents –Import and use Flash files inside the PDF –Collaboration tools

22. Soundbooth CS4  Essential Role –Create audio tracks for use in voice over work –Create and edit music files –Multiple tracks –Exports to all audio formats

23. Contribute CS4  Essential Role –Allows non-programmers to edit web pages –Simple interface - like MS Word –Edit pages within the browser –Works with Dreamweaver Templates

24. Live Demonstration  Simple interface in Photoshop  Button states and fly-out menus in Fireworks  Simple animation in Flash  Creating a simple audio track in Soundbooth  Creating a simple interaction in Flash  Bring the audio track into Flash  Bringing everything together into Dreamweaver  Publishing to the Web in Dreamweaver

25. Why Should You Buy CS4?  If you have the budget, it is a complete set of tools  Professional web development suite – everything you need is included  You are tired of fighting with eLearning development tools that don’t allow you to do exactly what you want  All the interfaces are similar – learning one tool will help you to learn another  Support materials – lots of people are using the tools so there are lots of folks to help  There isn’t anything you cannot do – you have full creative power to build as you see fit.

26. Why Should You NOT Buy CS4  There isn’t anything you cannot do – you have full creative power to build as you see fit – sometimes this can be overwhelming!  Expensive if you have to outfit an entire department  Learning curve is large – getting everything to do what you want will take hours of practice  If you need something built quickly, until you get up to speed, it will take you time  If you need to only build eLearning – Trivantis, Atlantic Link and others may be good enough

27. Questions?

28. 28 Q&A Session Thomas A. Toth dWeb Studios, Inc. ttoth@dwebstudios.com 303.805.2472 Thank you for your participation!